Suture anchors are commonly used in orthopedic surgery to affix suture to bone. Sutures may then be affixed to tissue or a secondary implant, thereby securing the tissue or device to bone. Often, the suture anchor is used to repair an injured tendon or ligament. Alternatively, the anchor may be installed alongside an autograft, allograft, xenograft or synthetic tissue implant using interference to secure the material within a bone tunnel.
External features along the anchor body are known in the art for effecting engagement of a suture anchor with tissue. Examples of these features, which may be used combination, include self-tapping helical ridges and cutting flutes for threaded engagement with bone and conical protuberances or deployable barbs for pound-in bone engagement. Anchors may be composed of any suitable biocompatible absorbable or non-absorbable material. Factors determining selection of an anchor include personal preference with regards to material or method of engagement with bone (pound-in versus screw-in), bone quality at the surgical site, plans for removal or revision surgery, or unique requirements of a particular surgical procedure.
High-strength suture is readily available (FiberWire®, Orthocord™) and often coupled with anchors for use in orthopedic surgery. Many suture anchors currently available on the market rely upon the characteristic tensile strength and resistance to breakage of these sutures, given small eyelets allowing for high contact pressures along the length of a strand, interference between suture and external anchor features, and abrasion with a bone tunnel during insertion. However, recent publications have shown that these sutures can cause damage to surrounding bodily tissue, and surgeons may question usage of anchors utilizing them. Whereas conventional sutures are not as durable as the high-strength counterparts, it is desirable to provide an anchor with a flexible member/suture attachment capable of protecting the member from contact with bone or potentially damaging anchor features.
Research suggests that broader tissue insertion leads to better surgical outcomes than do the center-point attachment provided by many anchors and systems currently on the market. It is believed that an improved anchor design would allow for flexible member/suture strands to extend from locations proximate the outer diameter of the device, rather than from a centrally located eyelet.
Many devices, viewed from an installer end and looking towards an anchor at a leading end, taper or reduce in diameter from largest to smallest. Other anchors have a flange or head at a trailing end that secures the anchor within a near cortex of a bone or holds a soft tissue against bone. There is a need for, and the inventors are unaware of, a cannulated suture anchor capable of being loaded onto a guidewire and engaged with the driver head of a cannulated installer, the anchor subsequently moved by the installer longitudinally along the guidewire to the far cortex of a bone, across an intra-articular space for engagement into a second bone or across a fracture.